The field of clinical neurology remains frustrated by the recognition that secondary injury to central nervous system tissue associated with physiologic response to an initial insult resulting from direct blunt force or the percussive forces found in close proximity to a blast source could be lessened if only the initial insult could be rapidly diagnosed or characterized. While the diagnosis of severe forms of such insults damage is straightforward through clinical response testing and computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) testing, these diagnostics have their limitations in that medical imaging is both costly and time-consuming while clinical response testing of incapacitated individuals is of limited value and often precludes a nuanced diagnosis. In many instances, the instrumentation necessary for these diagnostic procedures is not available in many situations such as in the field. Additionally, owing to the limitations of existing diagnostic tests and procedures, situations exist under which a subject experiences a stress to their neurological condition such that the subject often is unaware that damage has occurred or does not seek treatment as the subtle symptoms often quickly resolve. The lack of treatment of mild to moderate challenges to neurologic condition of a subject can have a cumulative effect or subsequently result in a severe brain damage event having a poor clinical prognosis.
An analysis of the mechanisms and development of biomarkers related to blast injury is complicated by a deficiency in the number of quality experimental studies, and by the lack of sensitivity and specificity of biomarker based injury prediction. By the time a biomarker analysis is performed, the subject may be already in a severe and irreversible state. Thus, there is a need for a detection system that can identify the presence or absence of an event severe enough to warrant monitoring or treatment and optionally quantify the extent of trauma an individual has received that will allow for rapid treatment decision making in the field or in a clinical setting.